


She doesn't sound deaf

by justEvieC



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Deaf, Deaf Character, F/F, LGBTQ Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:33:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justEvieC/pseuds/justEvieC
Summary: How I envision Emmerdale beginning a storyline which highlights how deaf people are coping in a world where everyone is wearing masks (plus a little LGBT friend for Aaron).
Comments: 12
Kudos: 38





	She doesn't sound deaf

Connie emerges from the coffee shop, barging the exit door open with her hip, balancing two immense chocolate chip cookies on top of two takeaway lattes - one soya, obviously, for the lactose intolerant Jess who sits waiting patiently at the far table outside the cafe, wrapping her coat and thick scarf around herself to shield from the chill of the early spring morning.

The friends chat and put the world to rights together as only true friends can; the global pandemic may have kept them apart for nearly a year, but they miraculously pick up exactly where they left off, as if no time at all has passed. From their two meter distance, and the still of the village morning, the unmasked pair make up for lost time. 

Shaken from the warmth of their renewed friendship by the clock on the church tower striking nine, Connie takes her leave, apologising for the brevity of their catch up and for her early start at work, but promising to make this a regular thing. Watching her good, old friend almost skip away, happiness in her heels, Jessica replaces her mask ready to return inside and refill her drained coffee cup, ready to start the day proper.

Inside, Jess saunters to the counter, juggling coffee orders in her mind, going back and forth, back and forth, unable to make a decision.  
"Too many choices!" Jess declares, as Bob steps up to the other side of the counter, expectantly.  
"What can I get ya?“ he asks, brightly, a smile illuminating his face even though half of it is hidden behind his 'Be kind' facemask.  
Jess smiles in return - a learned behaviour from years of missing what people have said but getting by with a 'smile and nod' rule. 

"I'll have a large mochaccino with almond milk, please," Jess asserts, proud of herself for making a decision in record time, and she begins to ferret through her handbag in search of the debit card which appears to have escaped her purse. 

On receiving the order, Bob instantly grimaces at the memory of emptying the last almond milk carton into his own hot chocolate about an hour previously. He turns to the under-counter fridge behind him to check stock but, as expected, finds the shelf vacant, so apologises,  
"I'm so sorry but we seem to be out of almond milk. Can I interest you in oat milk instead?" But his question hangs in the air, unanswered and a deep, slightly awkward silence follows, while Jess continues to fumble in her bag, becoming increasingly annoyed. 

"Oat milk?" Bob repeats. 

Finally looking up from her Aladdin's cave of a bag, a frustrated Jess confesses,  
"I can't find my card anywhere. Can I pay on my phone here?"  
Nose slightly out of joint at having been ignored twice, a disgruntled Bob asks yet again,  
"Oat milk?“ in a slow, deliberate tone.

Jess is instantly thrown. The face looking back at her from the counter isn't displaying any of the expected expressions - either a smile and a nod or furrowed eyebrows and a shake of the head. The face she is staring into now is quizzical and it dawns on her that she's missed a question. 

Customers in the cafe are beginning to listen in to this lop-sided exchange and the room begins to grow tense. Still, they devour their coffees and cupcakes, keeping their noses out of things which are none of their business. 

Planting her feet firmly and standing up tall for a boost of confidence, Jess smiles at the grey-haired man in front of her and says,  
"I'm deaf. Whatever you've just asked, I've missed it. Could you write it down for me?" 

A rather shocked (and slightly flustered) Bob, over the din of the milk steamer, the kettle and the cafe full of customer voices, cutlery and chairs scraping on the polished floor, then repeats the question 'OAT MILK?' at full volume.

" Yeah, still deaf, I'm afraid. Could you write down whatever it is you're asking, please?" and Jess's face sets into an 'are you kidding me?' eyebrow raise as one last time, Bob yells,  
"WOULD. YOU. LIKE. OAT. MILK?"

Now thoroughly peeved, Jess nodds her head in acknowledgement of this stalemate and begins to close her bag when, just in her eye line, between her bag and the floor, a phone screen appears with a glowing message - 'No almond milk. Will oat milk do?'

Every muscle in Jess's body suddenly releases and a wave of peace passes over her, as she sighs in relief at the outstretched hand; a lifeline pulling her sinking vessel to shore. She looks up into the kind, brown eyes and the clear mask of a ruggedly handsome (slightly rough around the edges) man with a kind, warming smile.

"Uh huh," she nods, giddy from the rescue by the gentle stranger, and Aaron gives Bob a mouthfull when he quietly whispers,  
"She doesn't sound deaf."  
Having set his phone to transcribe mode, Aaron turns the screen to his new acquaintance and he sees the sadness she tries to hide in her previously bright eyes. What ensues is a calm, polite, brief but intense education of the coffee shop attendent in deaf awareness, after which Aaron retrieves Jess's drink for her and moves her phone to one side as she goes to pay, insisting this one is 'on him'.

Like a damsel rescued by Prince Charming, Jess gives an elegant giggle and dips her eyes to the ground. She looks up and into his big, brown eyes to ask,  
"You paid for my drink. Is this a date then?" and chuckles, hoping her sarcasm is obvious through her black, opaque mask. 

Aaron smiles, his smile broad for all to see behind his clear mask and replies,  
"You're barking up the wrong tree, love. I'm gay."  
But Jess simply replies, smiles and takes a seat with her new friend,  
"Me, too!"


End file.
